Burial vault



J. S. HAMILTON BURIAL VAULT Filed June 13, 1930 Fil/a.

INVENTOR .fo/1n Ham-an/ BY MJL/W ATTORNEY May l5, 1934.

Patented May 15, 1934 UNlTED STATES PATENT FF BURIAL VAULT poration of Delaware Application June 13, 1930, Serial No. 460,814

5 Claims.

My invention relates to heavy concrete burial vaults which are put in the bo-ttoms of graves to receive the casket and to prevent the graves from caving in and spoiling the appearance of the 5 cemetery when the caskets eventually rot and collapse.

Such burial vaults vare commonly made in one piece and are very heavy, requiring a chain tackle to lower them in the graves, and requiring many l men, even with the aid of a block and tackle, to

lower the heavy one-piece top thereon.

Many attempts have been made heretofore to make a sectional knockdown vault having pieces small enough to be handled by a single man, or

l by two men, one in the grave and one at the top of the grave to hand the pieces down, but such attempts heretofore have involved either an impracticable construction requiring a grave very much larger than the Vault in order to permit yfl the assembly within the grave, or else an unmoldable or a very costly shape of the various intertting parts which is incompatible with the essential purpose of the knockdown construction, which is to provide an inexpensive substitute for the bettenbut costly, one-piece concrete Vault.

My invention relates to a sectional burial vault made of concrete or equivalent artificial stone, which, when molded in even the thinnest prac- 39 ticable slabs, has a total weight of half a ton or more, so that something like ten or fteen separate pieces or sections are required, in order to `obviate the necessity of using a block and tackle.

The object of my invention is to provide a really satisfactory and inexpensive sectional burial vault, which is practical in its assembly operations in the grave, which is practical in its manufacturing requirements when molded in concrete or other artificial stone, and which is of rg0 parts having a reasonable weight which can be handled by one man.

My invention consists of the methods, structures and combinations hereinafter described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying s drawing, wherein Fig. l is a side elevational View of a sectional burial vault embodying my invention in a preferred form, the position of the casket being indicated in dotted lines,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same, with the top removed, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the U-shaped abutments or connections, the section-plane being indicated by the line 3 3 in Figs. 1 and 2.

The vault shown in the drawing comprises a (Cl. 'l2-7) top in three sections 4, 5 and 6, a bottom in three sections 8, 9 and l0, two upright sides each comprising three sections 13, 14 and l5, and two upright ends each in a single separate piece, 2l and 22, respectively. In the preferred construction, as shown in the drawing, each of the pieces or sections is a hat slab of molded concrete, and the constructions and tting of the parts, as subse quently described, are all designed with a View to the practical molding of these pieces of concrete, in a common and well-known manner, on a pallet or flat board (not shown) to which are nailed four strips (not shown) for ccniining the wet concrete until it has set sufciently to be lifted out to complete its hardening process. In particular, I avoid all necessity for complicated forms or molds, temporary filler strips for forming channels or grooves, or other expedients making for expense in manufacture or thin concrete shoulders or edges which are sure to break off or to be improperly filled in the mold.

it is desirable that the top and bottom of my vault shall be interchangeable, the four end sections 4, 6, 8 and 10 being all alike, and the two central sections 5 and 9 being alike. sections 4, 6, 8 and 10 have stiff metal pieces 24, preferably of U shape, embedded in the concrete after it is poured, and while it is still wet, so that the ends of the U stick out to provide abutments or shoulders for engaging the upright v sections and holding them in place as the sole means of connection therebetween. It will be understood that the top sections are molded upside down, with the bent metal pieces 24 pressed into the wet concrete from the top. These sections may also have inverted U-shaped metal pieces 26 similarly set into the concrete to provide. rests for the casket 27 (shown in dotted lines) and also convenient loops for lowering the pieces, particularly the bottom pieces, into the grave by means of straps passed therethrough. These sections also have flexible wire loops 28 which are useful for lowering the top sections and which are exible so that they can be bent up at right angles to the top surface of the top section, which is against the flat pallet when molding.

The central sections 5 and 9 of the top and bottom, respectively, are, o1' may be, similar except for the omission of the U-shaped metal pieces for receiving the end sections 21 and/or 22, and the inverted U-shaped casket-supports 26. All six of the top and bottom sections have plain, non-interlocking abutting ends 30 where they abut against each other, which is in accord The end with my purpose of saving cost in manufacture, providing full-sectional strong concrete edges, and saving time and effort in assembly in the grave.

The adjoining end and side upright pieces, such as 21 and 13, are ilat slabs in right-angular assembled relation, one of said slabs, as the side piece 13, having stiff metal abutment-inserts 34, preferably of U shape similar to the inserts 24, and similarly formed, for receiving the upright piece at right-angles thereto.

The three abutting co-planar sections 13, 14 and 15 of each of the sides have plain concrete abutting ends 36, which can be easily molded, similar to the top-section abutments 30, but they have stiff, bent-metal inserts 38, which are preferably of L shape, embedded in the concrete and projecting out in position to engage the adjacent separable upright member 13, 14 or 15, as the case may be, in such manner as to prevent its falling, particularly to prevent the central section 14 from falling inwardly on the casket. The side walls of the grave are close enough to prevent its falling outwardly, and if necessary, the upright pieces of the vault may be propped in place by rocks wedged against the side walls of the grave. In molding the side pieces 13, 14 and 15, the metal angles 38 may easily be laid in the wet concrete so as to overlie the side strips of the mold.

While I have shown my invention in a single form of embodiment which is at present preferred, I do not desire that the appended claims shall be construed as being altogether limited to this precise form except as may be required by the language thereof or by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sectional burial vault of artificial stone, characterized by having separable sectionalized top and bottom members and separable sectionalized upright members therebetween, and further characterized by the fact that the adjoining end and side upright members have shouldered abutments for preventing the falling of either of said members, and further characterized by the fact that the sectionalized top and bottom members have metal abutments for closely engaging the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the respective upright members, and by the fact that the sections of the top abut alongside of each other without any interlocking engagement at the abutting sides.

2. A sectional burial vault of artificial stone, characterized by having separable sectionalized top and bottom members and separable sectionalized upright members therebetween, and further characterized by the fact that the adjoining end and side upright members are flat slabs in right-angular relation, one of said slabs having a metal abutment or abutments embedded in the artificial stone body thereof and projecting out in position to engage the adjacent separable upright member in such manner as to prevent its falling, and further characterized by having substantially interchangeable sectionalized top and bottom members provided with metal abutments embedded in the artificial stone bodies thereof and projecting out in position to engage the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the respective upright members.

3. A burial vault of artificial stone, characterized by a top member having stiff metal pieces set into the artificial stone of which it is composed and projecting down below the bottom surface in position to closely engage a side and/or end upright member of the vault, said top member also having flexible wire loops set into the artificial stone of which it is composed and projecting above the top surface thereof, said loops being bendable into a position either at against the top surface of the top member or at right angles thereto.

4. A sectional burial vault of artificial stone, characterized by having separable sectionalized top and bottom members and separable sectionalized upright members therebetween, and further characterized by the fact that the adjoining end and side upright members have shouldered abutments for preventing the falling of either of said members, further characterized by the fact that there are a plurality of upright side sections on each side of the vault having shouldered coplanar abutment with each other, and still further characterized by having substantially interchangeable sectionalized top and bottom members provided with metal abutments embedded in the articial stone bodies thereof and projecting out in position to closely engage the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the respective upright members.

5. A sectional burial vault of artificial stone, characterized by having separable sectionalized top and bottom members and separable sectionalized upright members therebetween, and further characterized by the fact that the adjoining end and side upright members have shouldered abutments for preventing the falling of either of said members, and further characterized by the fact that the sectionalized top and bottom members have metal pieces embedded therein and provided with projections coperating to embrace the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the respective upright members,

JOHN S. HAMILTON. 

